THE National Data Management Authority (NDMA) marks its Data Centre Department as a key player in transforming government services across Guyana.

As the country continues to undergo rapid digital transformation, the NDMA provides as a service, access to the Internet for government entities through its high-speed service and dedicated fibre optic network connections.

In a recent episode of the NDMA’s Tech Talk, the Authority stated that the role of the Data Centre Department in transforming government services through efficient data and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) management is a vital one.

It noted that a data centre is a centralised facility where critical IP systems and data are stored, managed and secured. The centre serves as the backbone for digital operations, providing the infrastructure needed to store vast amounts of information, ensure continuous access to applications, and support seamless communication.

According to the Authority, from ensuring data integrity to optimising infrastructure network design, the staff of this vital department are at the forefront of digital transformation.

The department is responsible for providing network connectivity for clients to the internet, to their servers as well as their other branches.

The Assistant ICT Engineer, Gerard Budhan said: “With this, we ensure fast, smooth and reliable network connectivity, thus promoting efficiency, reliability and innovation.”
To ensure that it prepares for disasters, the department conducts three key steps.

The first is redundancy. When configuring its network, the department ensures that there is ample redundancy on its network and utilises protocols such as Virtual Routing and Redundancy Protocol (VRRP).

Budhan said: “Secondly, we would conduct regular testing to ensure that our network remains up to our design. The third step is backups, so we would consistently do backups and test those backups to ensure that there is consistency and reliability across our network.”

At the data centre, personnel work closely with other departments within the infrastructure division, namely Power and Environment, Network Operations Centre, among others, ensuring that it remains operational all day, every day.

He added that this is because the data centre is the brain of the entire network infrastructure.